Federal Ruling On Eminem Could Change Online Royalty System

Eminem’s producers, FBT Productions has prevailed in a case against Apple and Universal over Eminem digital royalties, and the victory could have a huge effect on digital music sales.

The San Francisco Court of Appeals last week rejected a previous decision that iTunes sales and ringtone royalties should be counted in the same way as CD sales, but should instead be accounted for as masters licensed for re-use — a use for which a 50 percent share of net receipts received by Universal and Apple should be paid.